Sash-balance



oooooo 1. KA'DOW, Jr.

H BALANCE.

No. 405,711. Patented June 25, 1889.

i L T i 1 Q 5 x\\\\\y% x is E ZHeJZf In en ion Mal/J dfvaaw UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM KADOIV, JR, OF NEIVARK, NEIV JERSEY.

SASH-BALANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,711, dated. June25, 1889.

Application filed March 7, 1889. Serial No. 302,224. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM KADOW, Jr., a

citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Window-SashLifters, fully described and represented in the following specificationand the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to providea means for automaticallyraising a window sash; and it consists, primarily, in thecombination,with the windowsash provided with a rack upon one edgeextending over its entire length, a similar rack arranged to slidewithin the casing on the side adjacent to the window-sash andsupporting; a counter-balance of greater weight than the sash, and apinion mounted upon the window-frame intermediate to the said racks, ofmeans for locking the pinion to prevent its rotation, and in aparticularconstruction for a rack barattached to the counter-balance.

lleretofore considerable inconvenience has been experienced in employinga counterbalance merely of equal weight with the sash, so that it wasnecessary to apply force in raising the sash. By employing acounterbalance of greater weight than the sash, as in my invention, thesash is adapted to raise itself when the loeking device for the pinionis disengaged therefrom, and it is only necessary for the operator toapply force in lowering the sash, which can obviouslybc done with muchmore facility.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section,where hatched, of a part of the window-sash and window-frame and weight,showing the lifting device; Fig. 2, an edge View taken from the right ofFig. 1, with the weight and its rack removed to avoid obscuring thepinion and the parts operatin g therewith. Fig. 3 is a transversesection on line m a; in Fig. 1, the guide I) being also shown insection. Fig. l is a detached rear view of the rack bar, and Fig. 5 afront view of the same. In Figs. 1, i, and 5 only the end and centralportions of the weight and rack-bar are shown, the portion intermediatethereto being broken away in order to save space on the drawings. Fig. 6

is an edge view, and Fig. 7 a front view, of

the means for operating the lock for the pinion on the outside of thewindow-frame.

A is the window-sash, B the window-frame, and \V the counter-balancesupported within the window-casing, and is made of greater weight thanthe window-sash.

a is a rack extending along the entire length of one edge of the sash.

w is a rack-bar of the same length as the rack a and secured to thewindow-frame B to engage with the pinion c by means of guides Z),attached to the brackets 0 supporting the pinion 0. Such rack-bar w isprovided with raek-teeth on the side adjacent to the window-frame, andwith a smooth back adjacent to the counter-balance V, and to which thelatter is attached by means of a lug 10' near its upper end engagingwith the vertical slot 20 in the rack-bar. The counter-balance is alsoprovided with a pin 10 at its lower end engaging with a hole to in therack-bar to steady the same when the device is in operation. It isevident that without some locking device to hold the pinion in a fixedposition the counter-balance would tend to descend, so as to hold thewindow in its raised position continually. To avoid such obj ection, Iprovide two pawlsp and q, pivoted adj acent to the pinion and engagingwith the same. To operate these pawls, a bell-crank Z is pivoted uponthe axle c of the pinion, having an arm Z to engage the pawl 19 whenshifted, as hereinafter described, an arm Z engaging with a toe qprojecting backward from the pawl q, and an arm Z which is elevated todisengage the pawls from the pinion by means of a lever a. I11 itsnormal position the arm Z is withdrawn from contact with the pawl 12 toa position nearly under the point at which it is pivoted, thuspermitting it to fall by its own weight into contact with the pinion c;and the arm Z is in contact with the toe q, thus holding the pawl q inengagement with the pinion. As the arm 1 is lifted by means of the lever72, the arm Z is first withdrawn from the toe q, allowing the pawl q todrop out of contact with the pinion, and the arm Z gradually raises thepawl 19 out of contact with the pinion, thus leaving it free to move inthe desired direction, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The lever a is pivoted upon a plate on, se-

cured upon the outside of the window-frame and having lugs m projectinginwardly, and between which such lever is pivoted. The lever is providedat its outer end with a thumb-piece n and with a hole 01 (shown indotted lines in the drawings) for the application of a cord foroperating the lever when necessary.

N is a leaf-spring secured to the inner side of the plate m and bearingupon the lever n to hold it downward in its normal position.

In order to secure the lock in either position, a plate 0", providedwith slots 5 and 8, open at one side of such plate, is pivoted at oneend upon the plate m, and to hold the lever n in its normal position theplate 9" is swung into a vertical position, so as to in close such leverin the slot 3, thereby effectually preventing its vertical movement. Tohold the .lever in its inclined position when the pawls p and q arewithdrawn from the pinion, it is necessary only to swing the plate 0"laterally far enough to release the lever 02 from the slot 8, press thethumb-piece 'n of the lever downward, and return the plate 0' to itsvertical position, thus inclosing the outer end of the lever in the slot.5.

It is evident that in order to check the upward motion of the window itis only neces sary to provide the pawl 19 to engage with the pinion c,as there is no tendency in the sash to lower by its own weight onaccount of the excessive weight of the counter-balance; and without thepawl q the sash could be drawn down without operating the lockingdevice, as the rotation of the pinion would throw the pawl 19 upward,and the latter would drop by its own weight when the movement of thesash was discontinued. The pawl q is applied merely to lock the sashpositively in any position so that it cannot be moved except bytheoperation of the lever 02, but it is unnecessary to the successfuloperation of the device.

In practice I construct theraclcbarw of a single strip of sheet metal,cutting transverse slots in one end to admit the teeth of the pinion,and thus forming the rack portion, and bending the rear end parallel tothat provided with the rack-teeth. In order to attach thecounten-balance W to the back of such rack-bar, I cut a longitudinalslot in the same, and apply a T-shaped lug w to the weight transverselyto its length. To apply the weight to the rack bar, it is held in ahorizontal position while the T-shaped lug w is inserted in the verticalslot 10 and is then turned into position parallel with the rack-bar andis thus securely attached thereto.

It is evident that the rack-bar w might be formed of a single piece ofsheet metal, similar to the rack a, and secured directly to thecounterbalance NV; but I consider the construction shown hereinpreferable.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim herein is-- 1. Thecombination, with the window sash provided with a rack upon one edgeextending over its entire length, a similar rack arranged to slidewithin the casing on the side adjacent to the window-sash and supportinga counter-balance of greater weight than the sash, and a pinion mountedupon the windowframe intermediate to the said racks, of a pawl pivotedupon the window-frame above the pinion, a bell-crank pivoted upon theaxle of the pinion having one of its arms adapted to engage the pawl tolift it out of engagement with the pinion, and a lever pivoted upon andoperated from without the windowframe to lift the other arm of thebell-crank, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a sash-liftin g device comp rising racks a and w, applied to theedges of the sash A, and the counter-balance W, and an intermediatepinion c, mounted upon the windowframe, the combination, with thepinion, of the pawls p and q, arranged to engage with the same, the pawlq being provided with a toe q projecting therefrom, as described,a'bellcrank having arms Z, Z and Z and a lever 41, pivoted upon thewindow-frame, one of its ends projecting without the said frame and theother end engaging with the arm Z, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a sash-lifting device comprising racks a and 10, applied to theedges of the sash A, and the counter-balance W, and an intermediatepinion c, mounted upon the windowframe, the combination, with thepinion, of the pawls p and q, arranged to engage with the same, the pawlq being provided with a toe q projecting therefrom, as described, armsZ, P, and Z alever n, pivoted upon the windowframe, one of its endsprojecting withoutthe said frame and the dther end engaging with the armZ and a plate 'r, pivoted at one end upon the frame and provided withslots 8 and 3' open at one side of the said plate, the whole arrangedand operated as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a sash-lifting device, the combination, with the sash provided onone edge with a rack extending over its entire length, and a pinionpivoted upon the window-frame and engaging therewith, of a rack-barsecured to slide within the casing to engage with the pinion andsupporting a counter-balance of greater weight than the sash, the saidrackbar consisting in a strip of sheet metal provided with a series oftransverse slots upon one end to form the rack portion, and its otherportion being bent parallel thereto and provided with means forattaching the counterbalance thereto, substantially as shown anddescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

\VILLIAM KADOW, R.

Witnesses:

L. LEE, H. J. MILLER.

